Sign in

Pilot, passenger killed in Indonesia plane crash

Officials say a pilot and a mechanic traveling with him were killed when their small airplane crashed into a hospital shortly after takeoff on the Indonesian side of Borneo island.

Updated on: Dec 31, 2009, 18:28:56 IST
AP | By , Jakarta, Indonesia
Share
Share via
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
Copy link
  • copy link

Officials say a pilot and a mechanic traveling with him were killed when their small airplane crashed into a hospital shortly after takeoff on the Indonesian side of Borneo island.

HT Image
HT Image

Local police chief Lt. Col. Badya Wijaya says the two people on board the single-engine Fletcher FU24-950 propellor plane were killed instantly Thursday when it hit the hospital and then fell onto a car in the town Ketapang in West Kalimantan province.

No one on the ground was injured.

Wijaya says the crash was probably caused by engine trouble. Experts say poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of properly trained pilots cause Indonesia to have one of Asia's worst aviation records.

Get the latest headlines from US news and global updates from Pakistan, Nepal, UK, Bangladesh, Russia and US Iran war Live, get all the latest headlines in one place on Hindustan Times.